By now, you many know that the second 2008 release of MATLAB and related products is out.
Contents
Some Quick Highlights
Here are just a few quick highlights, some of which you will see in future posts on this blog, and some of which have already shown up on other MathWorks blogs.
Highlights:
- Enhanced random number generation
- IDE elements such as a function browser, function hints, and a more flexible current directory browser
- Additional supported file formats: NetCDF (read/write) and JPEG2000 (read)
- New data structure containers.Map
- doc command enhanced to work with user created classes
User Survey
In the past you have added plenty of requests on this blog. Today I ask you to consider filling out this survey. We are looking for input about how you work so we can create new features and functionality to meet your needs.
Get
the MATLAB code
Published with MATLAB® 7.7
I’d mostly like broad improvements to the plotting interface. At the end of the day, the numbers generated through the MATLAB code are what matter. We all spend so much time visualizing the data through plots of various types though that cycling through all the various settings and commands (and associated slowdowns, kludginess) with every plot really eats into analysis time. Just getting a plot to “look right” takes a fair amount of time.
And why is the default plot line color blue instead of black? Every engineering textbook I have is printed in black and white.
James-
I hope you will fill in the survey to air your thoughts.
–Loren
James –
Thanks for you comments concerning plotting, it is always a challenging balancing act for us to both modernize our out-of-the-box behavior and maintain backwards compatibility. Please do us the survey to communicate further to us.
Not to be argumentative, but I contend that textbooks are in black and white for primarily economic reasons (the cost of printing). A (modern) computer display does not have to make this compromise, so it seems sensible to, by default, use color as a means to distinguish a plot line from the axis and other plot lines. Search the help for “Line Styles for Black and White Output” for dot-dash options should you needs to format a plot for black and white publication. Read on to the next section of the help for ways to make these settings “sticky” if you find yourself making the same tweaks again and again. Finally, there is the startup.m file to make these setting “very permanent”.
Regards,
KEN